03/10 | No.

16 July/August/September

www.airbrush-magazine.net

Germany 6,90 Europe 8,10

International US-$ 11,00 (RRP)

NEW
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THE SECRET OF
PHOTOREALISM 2

CUSTOM DESIGN
Harley meets Muscle Car

Painting a Surfboard

A I R B R U SFLHAMEEFSF E C T S

HOT ROD

STONE STRUCTURE
Readers Gallery | Basics | News | How Tos | Tests | Reports | Scene

WHATS IN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Motifs in this Issue

The Secret of Photorealism 2
Marissa Oosterlees self-portrait step by step
In her step by step article, Marissa shows you that her self-portrait truly
is not a photo. She implements the foundations of photorealism.

Page 06
Surfin USA
Surfboard effect design by Eddie Davis
Passionate surfer and airbrusher Eddie Davis gives his surfboard a modern
retro design with a steampunk pattern and House of Kolor paints.

Page 15
Stone Structure & Masking Film Technique
Basic series for airbrush beginners
Perspective, light and shadow, a stone structure and working with
masking film: This simple motif offers one heck of a challenge!

40

41

Page 40
The Worldwide Economic Crisis
in Airbrush Acrylic Technique
Jens Bleuls Gamble with Money, Fire and Chess Pieces
The world stands bewildered and stunned by the economic crisis: Risky strategies failed, money disappears into smoke. Jens Bleul from Dresden, Germany, has
some thoughts on the topic.

44

45

Page 44
Custom Design: Harley Meets Muscle Car
Motor Maniac by Piotr Parczewski
The Polish custom painter Piotr Parczewski made a customers dream come true:
Cult US muscle car made eternal on his Harley a real motor maniac!

52

4 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

53

Page 52

Airbrush News
Craig Fraser not only presents his new book, he also presents spooky stencils. Also: Power Series 2, Createx Workbook, plotters, paints for bodypainting, plastics and textiles, and much more.

Page 22

Readers Gallery
Summer is approaching: Even our Readers Gallery is showing some unclothed
skin

Page 26

Report: Bikes and Flowers

Featuring a bike covered by flowers, Nadine Eichler has won cool biker hearts
over for the bright world of flowers at the North Rhine-Westphalia State Garden Show.

Page 32

Report: German Airbrush History

in the 20th Century
Airbrush technology has not been spared by German history: Mathias Faber
details another 80 years of paint spraying art between east and west.

Page 35

Hot Rod Flames:

Tips by Dennis Mathewson
Hot rod flames are one of the original custom painting motifs and the predecessor to many flame variations. Dennis Mathewson shows how these classic
flames can simply and effectively designed.

Page 49

Events: Airbrush Show, Master Class

and Bodypainting Event
Despite volcanic ashes: Successful Airbrush Show in Schweinfurt and creative
ASBS Master Class. Announcement: Bodypainting Festivals 2010.

Page 60

Preview 04/10, Imprint

Its getting grim and gloomy: Vampire alarm from Sarah Richter and moonshine romanticism from Michael Calandra; brushed tanks and mountains
la Pandora

Page 62

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 5

STEP BY STEP Self-portrait Marissa Oosterlee

Written by Marissa Wouters/

Oosterlee, assisted by Eddy
Wouters.
Translated and copyedited by
Katja Hassler. Text and Contents
Eddy Wouters.

6 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

STEP BY STEP

The Secret of Photorealism 2 Marissa Oosterlees self-portrait step by step

At the first part of The Secret of Photorealism, I have introduced you to some of the
concepts of photorealism. We have seen that color, or rather the judgment and accuracy of using it, is one of the main pitfalls. Part one of this series ended with a highly
detailed digital sketch, where most of the problems with color were already solved.
But along the way, I will also make many subtle changes as the painting progresses.
You can use the first part of this article in order to get a better technical and artistic
understanding of the painting process that will be discussed in here. Lets see how all
that theory translates into practice.

Basic equipment SELF-PORTRAIT MARISSA OOSTERLEE

Airbrushes:
Paints:
Additional Materials:

Base:

Iwata Micron (altered)

Etac EFX Series, transparent colors and opaque white
Various erasers, sandpaper, brushes, masking tape,
paper as loose stencils, water color pencils, X-Acto blades no. 11
Schoellershammer 4 G dick

Picture 01/02
I work on a Schoellershammer 4 G board size 70 x 100 cm but the painting itself is smaller, so I put some masking tape alongside the edge. I make two copies of the colored sketch on an Epson Giclee printer and one monochrome print on very thin
paper so I can trace the image onto my board.
I start with the bushes in the background, blocking in overall shapes with
four to five different colors that are mixed from beforehand. I will add more
colors later on. To avoid the colors from shifting, I add the lightest color first.
This looks quite dark already on the white background, but we know that
this is an illusion, as explained in the previous issue.

Picture 03
The previous article also mentioned depth of field which in reality is a complex pattern of shapes that makes us see unsharpness as a camera does. At
the top (left hand side) I apply this pattern onto the background. Notice that
there is not an even blurr. The highlights for example are relatively sharp
with a distinct shape. The most common mistake made by airbrush artists,
is to simply blurr the background evenly which is a wrong interpretation of
reality. The sharp, blown out highlights (as they would appear on a photograph) are erased.

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 7

STEP BY STEP Surfin USA

STEP BY STEP

rd
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Edditeom paint s
Cus
Growing up in the Sunshine State Florida and living on the
Gulf Coast, Eddie Davis has been blessed with surfing. His love
affair with surfboarding and the equipment used for the riding of waves started when he was young. This was the time
when surfboard style and artwork changed from HippieStyle to New Wave. Great surfboard designers really led
the charge in design and style, and everything had an edgy
day-glo look that became very famous.
For his own design, Eddie chose a traditional twin-fin Fish
style surfboard and painted it with modern House of Kolor
paint and technique. But in a way, he gave a nod to the past
by using Craig Frasers Steampunk FX stencils from Artool on
this project. The artist wanted to add a Jules Verne feel to
it, which is linked to the technical ideas of the famous author
from the 19th Century.
Basic equipment SURFIN USA
Airbrushes:
Paints:




Base:
Additional materials:

Iwata Kustom CM, Anest Iwata LPH-80

House of Kolor PBC64 Ultra Orange Pearl, BC02
Black, BC25 Black, KK11 Apple Red Kandy, BC25
Orion Silver, PBC57 Lite Teal Pearl,
RU311 Reducer Medium, SG100 Clear Coat,
KC 10 Wax & Grease Remover
Surftech Randy French Twin Fin Surfboard
Artool Steampunk FX Stencil, Artool Gerald
Mendez Texture FX Stencil, red Scotch Brite, Venture
Tape, X-Acto knife No.11, and inch tape,
pounce wheel, t-shirt, blue chalk, tracing paper

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 15

STEP BY STEP Surfin USA

STEP BY STEP

A RT I S T P R O F I L E
Eddie Davis

Eddie Davis is from Fort Walton Beach in Florida, USA. In the 80ies, he taught himself how to
use airbrush autodidactically, receiving support from Don Ashwood and Terry Hill. During the
summer of 1989 he began painting T-Shirts professionally. After working in his hometown for
3 seasons he had the opportunity to travel and paint in the United Kingdom and worked for
3 years with painting Large Scale Carnival attractions in Heinsberg, Germany. He also took on
projects in Holland, Belgium and Switzerland. He continues to work in and around the Airbrush Industry as a contributing columnist for Airbrush Action Magazine, Airbrush Step by Step
Magazine and is a Master Class Instructor for the Airbrush Action Getaways. Eddie currently lives in Panama City Beach,
Florida and works at Big Airbrush on Panama City Beach. He also has starred in his own video Power Skulls and just
released his first stencil package through Auto Air colors. Eddie is married and has two children.

Picture 01/02
I use a brand-new Surftech Randy French twin fin surfboard for my project. It is
three years old but has never been ridden before and started to yellow a bit. For
me it is perfect and it doesnt need a lot of preparation work. I will simply scuff it
and clean it using a Red Scotch Brite. I scuff the entire surface top and bottom. It
takes time to do this step carefully and even.

Picture 03
Using House of Kolor KC-10 Wax & Grease Remover, I wipe down the entire
surface, top and bottom. Because this board has two removable fins, I make
sure to mask off the fin-boxes where the fins mount.

Picture 04
Because this board is being done for the East Coast Distributor for Surftech
Surfboards, I want their logo to be used in the final design. I use Venture
Tape, a clear flexible paint mask product from Coast Airbrush. Using a No. 11
X-Acto knife I carefully cut around the logos and serial number info.

Picture 05
For large color areas I use my Anest Iwata LPH-80, at about 55 PSI (3.8 bar).
Then I mix House of Kolor PBC64 Ultra Orange Pearl as per the technical
manual at a ratio of 2:1 with medium reducer RU311. Because Florida is a bit
more humid than most places, I over-reduce just a splash because it makes
the paint dry quicker. Now I apply the paint on the whole surface of the
surfboard.

16 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

STEP BY STEP Stone Cubes

AIRBRUSH BASICS

Six sides, twelve equally long edges, and eight corners: These are the features of a cube. In the world
of art as well as the world of airbrushing, a cube serves as a perfect object for gaining practice with
perspective, symmetry, light and shadow relations, and surface structures. Thanks to its straight edges
and its many surfaces, the application of masking film is an absolute must. And one stone cube structure is also part of the package!
Basic equipment MONOLITH
Airbrushes:
Paints:

Additional materials:

Base:

Picture 01/02
You begin by constructing a cube motif using
three vanishing points or make use of complimentary 3D software such as, for example,
Vue7 from Cornucopia3d.com. As an alternative, you can download this template from the
ASBS members area. Then trace the contours
of the cube, shade and horizontal line into the
desired size on an illustration board. In so doing, make sure that the lines are not too visible. Also, carefully correct them with a rubber eraser, if necessary.

40 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

Airbrush device (0.2-0.4 mm nozzle)

Umbra and various other brown hues,
black, white, blue
Masking film, scalpel, brush, mixing dish,
water, permanent felt-tip pen
Illustration board

Picture 03
Then attach the masking film onto the sketch and use the permanent felt-tip
pen and ruler to once again draw the lines onto the masking film. You can
then better see the areas that are to be cut out.

Picture 04/05
Using the ruler and scalpel, you now cut along the exterior lines of the cube
and then completely unmask the cube forms.
Attach the interior parts back onto the carrier
foil of your masking film for later usage.

Picture 06
Mix a light brown hue, for example, using umbra, yellow and some water.
Then try some other color hues such as ochre or golden sand. Test the mix
on a separate sheet of paper to make sure that youre satisfied with the
consistency and color.

Picture 07
With a crumpled-up kitchen or paper towel, soak up the paint from your
mixing dish and dapple the structures carefully in the exposed cube surfaces.
Make sure that you twist and turn the towel every once and again to ensure
that no regular imprints remain.

Picture 08/09
Give the stone cube a sandy character by
sprinkling some fine points with umbra and
then white over the entire surface. Use the
hose squeeze method or reduce the pressure
on the compressor until the device begins to
sprinkle. In the picture, you see my application
of an air-adjustable quick coupling.

Picture 10/11
After the paint has dried,
attach the masking film
appropriately. Then you
cut out the front surfaces
of the cuboid and carefully deposit the pieces of
masking film back on the
carrier foil.

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 41

STEP BY STEP The Crisis

STEP BY STEP

An Interpretation in Airbrush Acrylic Technique by Jens Bleul

The worldwide economic crisis really had me thinking quite a bit. I kept asking myself the question:
Where are all the billions going? Humans are actually quite smart and intelligent, but they just cant
ever stop being so greedy! The chess pieces in my picture represent our intelligence. We the people
simply watch as money is being burned away. We stand helpless and bewildered vis--vis this
economic crisis.

Basic equipment THE CRISIS

Airbrushes:
Evolution with 0.15 mm nozzle, Hansa 381 with 0.4 mm nozzle
Paints:
Schminke Aero Color red orange, indian yellow, basic yellow, titan yellow greenish,

scarlet, light grey, violet, turquoise blue, black, sepia, opaque and transparent white
Additional materials: Stabilo colored pencils, fineliner, brush size 00, cutter,

Schoellershammer transparent tracing paper, projector
Base:
Canvas, 40 x 60 cm

44 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

A RT I S T P R O F I L E
Jens Bleul

The 48 year old carpenter Jens Bleul enjoys a

profession that many people surely dream of:
He is a stage mechanic at the famous Dresden
Semper opera house. Nonetheless, painting was
always one of his greatest passions. In 1992, he
discovered the airbrush and hes been using it ever since. To turn his thoughts
into pictures, he often uses chess figures, which he presents in accordance with
the motto Emotions of living in chess. His artworks have already been displayed at several exhibitions including in the Semper opera house. Jens Bleul is
married and lives in Radebeul, Germany, a suburb of Dresden.

Picture 01
The best ideas for my artworks
seem to be formed while Im riding
my bike, where my thoughts seem
to flow back and forth and generally come to mind. Well it was just
one such an idea that led to a draft
of chess figures, which I sketched
on a piece of paper with a pencil.

Picture 02
I then searched for some reference material for the dollar bill online, since
the Internet is very helpful in such matters. Game money or also an original dollar bill can be extremely helpful, too. The bill is very important for
the picture, because its an essential component of the topic The Crisis.

Picture 03
I projected the reference picture with a projector onto the 40 x 60 cm large
canvas and traced it with a pencil. I begin the work with the Evolution Airbrush and the color sepia, which I thin out in a 1:2 ratio with distilled water. With just a bit of pressure, and being very close to the surface, I spray
the forms and patterns of the dollar bill per freehand. If any of the pencil
strokes remain visible, I erase them carefully when finished.

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 45

CUSTOM PAINTING Dennis Mathewson

CLASSROOM

Custom painted flames that are painted on vehicles had their beginning back in the 1950s with custom hot rods and racecars. Great legendary artists like Roth, Kelly, Spina and many others popularized
this art in the 1960s. Custom built cars and racecars were painted with a variety of colors and styles
from the classic hot rod flames. This classic custom painting flame technique has evolved over the
years into different styles. Giving the flame graphic patterns, different textures and backgrounds allows for flexibility into greater possibilities and results. Any artist can use his own creativity to invent
a look without it looking common or like everyone elses. As for the classic old school look of the
classic custom painted flame, it will always live on and will never burn out.
First I prepare a metal surface panel that has been painted with a white base coat. I scuff and
rough the surface with an abrasive red scuff pad or sandpaper (500 grit will work). Then I clean
the panel with a solvent cleaner followed by clean water.

I first lay a solid

piece of wide
application tape
over the entire
surface, then use a spreading tool to remove
all of the air bubbles. Next, on a separate
piece of paper, I draw my flame designs with
a pencil. I place a piece of Saral Graphite paper under my drawing then use a hard pen
to trace the design, transferring my drawing
onto the mask which allows me to be able to
use the original drawing over and over again
for this project or others in the future.

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 49

STEP BY STEP

STEP BY STEP Motor Maniac

Andrzej has a very special hobby: He collects American cars. This is

why he also wanted his Harley to become an embodiment of his personal hobby. Custom Painter Piot Parczewski was invited to his garage to see the horsepower stable and to take some pictures. He
used those pictures to develop several designs on the computer. He
produced a paint scheme representing the images and highlights of
Andrzejs cars which he is now describing in this very article.

A RT I S T P R O F I L E
Piotr Parczewski

Piotr Parczewski was born in 1976 in Lomza, a small town in eastern Poland, and grew up in
Elblag, where he still lives today. After leaving school he enrolled as a law student, but soon he
found out, that he might have been on the wrong career path. He had always been into art and
had a soft spot for motorbikes. It was when the two attractions fused that he decided to do airbrush custom painting. His first effort was on an old Jawa fuel tank bought from a scrapyard. He
used it for a design from the American monthly Airbrush Action Magazine. In 1998 Piotr published
his first works in the major national motorcycle magazine. As there was still no market for custom
airbrush work in Poland at that time, his phone started ringing soon and bikers were queuing up
to get their machines airbrushed. In 2000 Piotr graduated with a masters degree in law and dutifully embarked on a legal career in the civil service, which he finally quit in 2004 to start his own
business as a painter and dealer for painting supplies.
www.airbrushing.com.pl

52 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/10

Harley meets Muscle Car:

Custom Design by Piotr Parczewski

Basic equipment MOTOR MANIAC

Airbrushes:

Paints:


Additional materials:

Iwata HP-, Iwata Custom Micron B,

Iwata LPH-80, Iwata WB-300
Black and white base coat by Spies Hecker, Yellow
Pearl coat, Candy Concentrates, Express Premium
Clear Coat by Standox
Pneumatic rotary orbital sander by Rupes, 3M Trizact
1000 blending disc, polishing pad, 3M
sandpaper (grit size 800), cotton cloth,
freehand templates, 3M adhesive tape,
3M tapes, 1.54 mm and 3 mm wide,
thick nylon thread, low-strength glue

03/10 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 53

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